Learn How To Make Your Art POP By Copying Mika Pikazo
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ค. 2024
- I tried recreating Mika Pikazo's vibrant illustration in order to learn the hidden stylization techniques for giving your illustration a pop graphic look. My main takeaway from this study was halftone, and in this video I explored using Photoshop, Clip Studio and other ways of applying halftones.
Copy Study PSD File:
📁drive.google.com/drive/u/2/fo...
Mika Pikazo's Socials:
🎨 Twitter: / mikapikazo
🎨 Pixiv: www.pixiv.net/en/users/1039353
🎨 Pixiv Fanbox (Files): mikapikazo.fanbox.cc/
CSP Brushes:
✏️ 鉛筆R: assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/...
✏️ やわ肌ブラシ: assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/...
✏️ 水彩境界Gペン: assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/...
✏️ 濃い水彩 & 水多め: assets.clip-studio.com/ja-jp/...
PSD Mega Brush Pack:
✏️ (Requires Creative Cloud): www.adobe.com/products/photos...
Resources:
💻 Pixiv Sensei Course: sensei.pixiv.net/ja/course/17
💻 Pixiv Sensei Video: • sensei by pixiv 第166回 ...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:36 1. Initial Breakdown + Resources
01:54 2. 1st Study
05:15 3. Halftones! ⭐
08:22 4. 2nd Study
12:02 Outcome + Conclusion
Korean Subtitles By Langzooma! : / langzooma
Any questions? feel free to message me:
🤔 / _tppo - บันเทิง
For tbe CMYK effect, there's actually a brush in CSP (i don't remember where I got it) that does exactly that! They're named half tone dots 1 & half tone dots 2 in my brush collection, so not much to go off of unfortuanately :') the grains pretty much look identical though, so I have a feeling that it's what they used (I' ll update if I find the brush pack!)
Edit: Found it! 'Simple Retro Halftone Brushes' by pirpi (Content ID: 1802041)
just looked up the brush and can confirm this looks exactly like what was shown in the video. thanks :)
Tysm for finding it I am downloading this brush immediately!
oh you are a saint
I am so thankful for you man! Thank youu
At 10:53 what did he meant by yellow splitting from magenta?
Mika Pikazo's art is only one of the very few art styles I can recognize at a glance. It's just so iconic and the color flow just always screams "Mika Pikazo"
Hers and LAMs are the ones I can recognize at a glance
Mika Pikazao, Torino, Yom, and Yoneyama Mai are some anime artists that I think are unique and very recognizable.
@@AZ-zz4kn o ye yoneyama mais art also has that recognizability
what about hyanna natsu, just adjust the saturation on her art +10% and its almost the same
THIS
I remember recommending you to recreate Mika Pikazo in one of your videos but Ive never thought you would actually do this. Because Mika is like the Final Boss when it comes to digital drawing (because of the sheer amount of crazy details in it). Honestly I can’t imagine how long it must’ve taken you to study all this, looking at multiple drawings to figure out what’s going on in the painting, draw and edit the video. I’m at a loss for words with the results. You are just awesome and you deserve thousands of followers!!!
Thank you! Mika Pikazo was actually the most suggested when I started the study. Her art was difficult to breakdown, and honestly I wished I could've gone a little deeper into composition techniques and color theory. But the whole process of figuring out the techniques was really fun to do! 😁
@@tppoart You did more than enough. So much actually that you left me speechless. I‘d love to see more Mika Artworks on your channel in the future. Keep up the good work you are super talented and amazing!
@@tppoart I typed out a massive comment where I went a little more into what you -might have- missed during the making of that recreation image, along with some suggestions, I hope you will read it and give it some thought. Cheers!
Final boss is probably wlop lol
This is a great example of “tracing” being used correctly. Beginning artists need to know that tracing isn’t always a bad thing, as long as you’re only using it as a study and not claiming the original art as your own. Your tutorials are always so helpful!!
id call this a case study, not really tracing but i agree with you
at this point I really want you to make editing tutorials lol. your transitions between parts are always so clean and fitting with the artists
Honestly I watch these videos for editing insight just as much as I watch them for art insight
Fr
Please!!
Omg yes😳
TRUE I LOVE THEIR EDITING SO MUCH TOO
Dude, I don't know if you edit your own videos, but the amount of effort is crazy, really excellent. Like the slides where you show the layers, the comparisons between each software (and doing it in every one of them + the traditional halftones), and that ending presentation , with the animated cube (even if it was already a preset), and the little animation of the hair moving for just a few seconds, but giving it a big plus, and also the whole style of editing. And that not focusing on the level of knowledge provided, such useful information, step by step and no skipping steps. It's really insane. The amout of time, human work and dedication is insane for things that just last a few seconds in a really well presented 12 min vid. Congratulations, your effort is outstanding, haven't seen someone making a top quality video like this, ever.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed all the little details! 😭 I think those small touches are my favorite things to do during the editing!
YES. as long as it remains feasible to you, PLEASE DON'T STOP DOING IT.
I'm this close to take your vid to my molecular genetics prof to shame him into putting more effort into his 3D molecular rendering lectures.
as part of biology, 3D spacial geometry and art is a fundamental science language that needs to be understood but it's almost always never taught systematically. every prof just draws the molecules relevant to their lecture and pretend what they're asking you to do, aka asking you to imagine 3D biological processes as if they're 2D lineart.
like, d*ck, that freaken IgG's binding domain isn't a flat hexagon anymore, it's a wibbly wobbly black hole...
I wanna say I'm sorry, but tbh, it irks me when profs don't go the extra mile to teach better when they want us to go the extra 100 mile to show "enthusiasm" for science. 3D RENDERING IS SCIENCE DAMMIT.
@@tppoarthat is the logicial plz?
So impressed that he went out of his way to try doing the halftones in different software
HELP HE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO BUY REAL HALFTONES
This is the first time I've ever heard of Mika Pikazo. Their art is absolutely beautiful and I hope to reach that level of talent someday. This breakdown video was really interesting! Good job!
her art is honestly amazing it feels illegal 😭😭😭
The saturated line is called the terminator, it happens at the edge of some shadows in real life, not sure which particular shadows though. Also I love your analyses, so comprehensive and really fun to watch
ahhh thank you!
As a person who watched those, it's common to see it on sunsets or sunny days where you are on a place with shadow
@@pansitopapasito I see thank you, also nice Ena pfp :>
Terminator is a boundary between light and shadow! It happens mostly when light hits an object in tangets and the light refracts, or when it hits a semi-translucent object (like skin)!
As far as my observation goes, on skin, it "shone through" and highlighted your blood vessels underneath (the same way your hand looks red when you put it up against bright light). That's why on skin, usually terminator line has a reddish undertone. It usually warms up and liven up the skin tone.
On other things, it technically is refracted lights. Beyond terminator line, if the shadow doesn't overlap with other light source (secondary light or bounced light), it became core shadow which is deep and dark. But if it has secondary light or bounced light, it's common to have terminator line darker.
Some artists uses terminator as a means to "brighten up a picture", since mixing two colors often results in a muddier, toned-down color, so they add a more saturated "transition color" and put it in the terminator line.
The softer the light is, the less rigid and more gradually blended the terminator line looks.
In my personal opinion, Mika Pikazo sensei uses a lot of cell shading which allows them to play a lot with the terminator line!
I heard it happens because it’s where light waves are compressed to shorter waves before losing its brightness into the shadows, hence a more saturated appearance
I got this weird fixation that I shouldn't trace people's arts, no matter the purpose. I kept trying to draw the line art myself and got burn-out halfway.
Now it has become one of my go-to when I try to learn different techniques, all thanks to you.
Love, from Vietnam.
helo ae :D
helu
I also still feel weird doing it, but I think as long as it's for studying purposes and we're not claming ownership then hopefully it's fine? 😅
Hellu.
I’m so stubborn with this that I eventually learned to just observe several artworks and references from people all over and just practice doing them on my own until I get a similar result XD Might take me a while but I’m also learning how they do it in tutorials
This channel is a fricking godsend fr, your way of explaining and showing things is an entire league of its own🧎♀️
And you listening to it patiently is the perfect match:)
The IRL halftone segment tool me *o-u-t*, I couldn't stop laughing! What an incredible breakdown, entertaining video, and such a useful process for everyone looking to examine how other artists create their works. This was amazing from start to finish!
I've been trying to crack her art style for years so seeing someone else come to the same problem is freaking hilarious to me
My jaw actually dropped at your video editing, pacing, and of course your skills in dissecting art. You my friend have earned a subscriber that will be around for a very long time.
The dedication and effort put in this video is insane.
🫁
For those new to Ibispaint, the blur can be achieved by the Gaussian filter (in FX). The half tone can be colored by merging the screen tone to an empty layer and add a new colored layer on top of it with Hard Mix (in blending mode).
#1 art channel ever.
Thank you so much for going out of your way to analysing various influential artists to provide learning artists a better understanding of numerous concepts❤❤
You gotta be one of the best art youtubers ever.
Your way of analyzing complicated works not only makes you achieve great results, but you ALSO help everyone out by explaining step by step what you did, something that most professional artist don't do even in paid courses. I'm truly, TRULY impressed. (And i never ever type comments under any youtube video, so this is how much i admire you)
Thank you!! 🙏
agreed this channel gives practical ideas
I learned so much from watching his videos and reading the comment section here
This is by far the best art TH-cam channel I've stumbled across. You put your points succintly and your editing is phenomenal. It's always difficult to do studies alone, this sort of content is a breath of fresh air and highly educational. Thank you so much, especially for sharing your study PSDs and please keep making content. Stay blessed!
I really love this idea of how you analyze artists and try out their methods. I've been studying other artists as well but mostly looked at patterns of solutions myself. For example how they deal with eye shapes, how they draw a nose because there's so many ways etc. I developed my own preferences because of it. But I love how you look at the technical aspect of it!
this is so intense tppo is like the detective of drawing styles... incredible how much science and commitment there was to this study, extremely appreciative of this bounty of information and share of techniques, is so demistifying and inspiring! tremendous value
Thank you 😊
@@tppoart Man you are Hilarious the way you explain AND THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT YOU DO is just so amazing inspiring me to word hard too if I want to be a better artist. Btw we love the way you edit and explain things more easily Pls continue your hard work God bless you ❤️❤️❤️
You can really feel the love and passion for art in these videos that you make. I hope you reach whatever dream you want. Warmest regards from Japan.
Thank you!
YOUR EDITING IS SO ENTERTAINING
the amount of effort is baffling, seriously! Keep up the amazing work, because it's one of the best i have seen in the art community, no, on the whole site, honestly!
I am very thankful for your efforts to share everything you learn. This made learning easier and faster for us who was just starting out digital art. Just want you to know that you are very appreciated in the art community. ❤❤
It's amazing! As a designer which tried to start digital drawing, I really struggled alot with practice and different tutorials because I simply couldn't understand why am I doing this or that. Once I've found your channel, I started regaining my interest in drawing because of your approach to the art, and the way you explain things makes me actually understand, what's going on. Thank you!
The amount of time you spend on this video is gorgeous, you are a cave of knowledge of digital painting study.
I’ve been stuck with the digital paint for like 2 years, but since I’ve found your channel I’ve found a way out “finally”
The composition, the way you speak and you explain is very pace full, I hope I could get much more better after your “lessons”
Big congratulations to you’re work >:]
just found your channel and im really happy about how you break down the steps. theres so much possibilities when it comes to coloring digitally its easy to get lost and seeing you copy different artists is really helpful and also fun to watch!! your music choice is funky and your explanations and video flow is easy to digest:) im always impressed with how well you manage to capture what makes the artworks stand out
was cracking up at the physical halftone segment. amazing. Thanks for all the effort you put into these videos! The breakdown of the art is really cool and the editing brings it to a whole other level. Great work!!
I adore your editing style, the surrounding graphics and little video flourishes are just as exciting and interesting to me as the art you're actually studying.
This is the first video I've seen of yours and it's bad ass. Breaking down techniques and understanding how they apply is a level up.
I love the fact that you delve into the deepest techniques of the artist just to look as close as possible to the image, big props to that!❤ i wish you could do a vid about cogecha/焦茶 artstyle because its really difficult to pull off
I can't describe this new genre of video as anything but wildly unique, creatively stylish, and masterfully explained/walked through. Thank you for birthing this video and all the others like it.
You went from 1k to 90k subscribers in like, 6 months. This really shows how much your videos are appreciated, thank you for everything!
not only am I impressed by your thorough study of another artist's work, I'm also impressed with how you constructed and edit the video. Amazing job!
WELL MADE sheesh. from start to finish top to bottom the presentation is so well made.. the clean graphics elements u put into ur edit, the amt of time it took and the dedication to study and analyze her work to be able to recreate and put it into presentation form..just wow.. this whole thing is so aesthetic as well along with the music choice bro its genius.. im just mind blown i love watching these keep up the great work! i dont see anyone doing stuff like urs but if yes u will always be the one to do it best for me.
Man this editing is clean! Your videos are so beautiful and easy to follow
The Saturated line in the Shadows is called "Core Shadow" and some digital artists refer to it as "limiter" too
i sorta thought it was the terminator
yeah core shadow was what i was thinking
I've never seen anyone as dedicated to art as you are. I'm also admiring some Japanese artists and studying them but you're completely on another level!! you want to improve so much and that is beyond words!! I really want to see what your style looks like!
god I am at a loss for words. This video blew me away- I'm surprised it doesn't have millions of views tbh! You went so above and beyond, capturing every tiny detail and it shows. My jaw literally dropped when you also recreated those effects in medibang, procreate, ibis etc. Just...the commitment to this is amazing and inspiring. And the editing is *mwah* chief's kiss. Instant sub.
My god the breakdown, the process, the real halftones thing which I didn't know was done like this, so informative and easy to understand, keep it up ✨✨😭
Oh my god thank you for making this! Mika Pikazo is my number 1 favorite artist. I used to study, learn and admire her illustrations when I started drawing last year and to this day, I will always be grateful to her!
the editing amd extra animations you do alone are art.
lots of work put into them
Man many congratulations! This is one of the best videos ever on TH-cam regarding digital art, direct to the point, showing your actual mental process, showing different tools, God editing, you are setting a new standard, keep the hard work.
I really appreciate how much time and dedication you spend on these! You give me motivation to not give up and that there is always a way to figure something out no matter how hard it is! I love your videos and love you break them down for us thank you!
Not gonna lie, your videos is some of the most useful drawing tutorial and research I could found on any other YT channel. The way you conclude stuff and organize your analysis, Just Wow..! Your channel really motivate me to draw
Tppo, your video editing as well as your art studying skills are improving with each video you share with us and I’m so happy you did a study of this piece!
I was fortunate to attend pixiv drawfest earlier this year where Mika Pikazo was learning animation from Hanabushi (the particular animated piece you were studying was among her first animation attempts!) and even the master animator was amazed at Mika’s illustrator sensibilities shining through in this piece. You’ve studied a piece where she was also trying out how to do something new by doing it herself, she’s always learning too!
Your master study is a delight to watch and your clear breakdown of the processes you’ve done for this study is a treat to watch. There’s so much hard work in your videos, cheers!
you’re crazily underrated and you put a lot of work into editing, and explaining the techniques in an easy way to understand. sending lots of love 💗
I seriously can't thank you enough for making these breakdown videos! They are a godsend! I've been a digital artist for quite some years now and while I have my own style I've always wondered about unlocking these secrets and how some artists on social media (especially young ones) seem really good at adapting these really popular styles that give that extra "oomph" to your art.
Oh and your video editing is impeccable. That part with the actual real life half tones made me laugh a lot though. The sheer dedication to the joke... XD
This is insane, it is quite hard to decipher her art style but you made it seem like it was easy to do! ❤ I hope you'll do fuzichoco next!!
The way your videos are edited and how you script your videos really expresses a respect for the art and artists you showcase, it's really refreshing and dignified unlike other art youtubers. (Some youtubers just do art for the funni haha laugh when ive really wanted to listen and watch someone who takes art like seriously seriously)
This is actually masterpiece, really love your passion and the way you enjoy yourself during the journey is ashtonishing to watch
This is one of the most unique art channels ive ever watched. Ive always wanted to start a YT art channel but I wanted to bring somthing new to the table but I couldnt think of anything, this art channel inspires me to find something niche I can do that no one else is doing! Also, amazing video i have always loved Mika's arts. Please do Akizero! he Anmi and Nnn000007 are my top 3 anime artist of all time.
With this level of everything. You're going to be BIG in the art community!
you dont know how much i’m learning from these videos, i’m trying my best to study and figure out my art style, you’re like a detective figuring out these final boss arts piece by piece, it’s truly amazing to have content like this out there. you’re very underrated!
i just found your channel recently and i have to say, this is genuinely one of the most helpful art channels ive ever found, its so in depth and easy to digest. the editing is absolutely phenomenal too! cant wait for whatever you make next man :D
You’re videos have been super helpful, all your explanations are clear. I reference them all the time in my essays whenever a professor asks us to do style studies. It’s also really encouraging to see you succeed in the end after trying so many times. Thank you for sharing your hard work. I hope you have a wonderful day.
I would just like to say, when I passed by your channel on your last vid, you had around 7k subs. I am just so proud of your quick growth cuz every time like a minute passed I saw you gain 3k subs. Also your styling of editing is so great I just can't believe you were once so underated. Once again congrats on over 90k subs
Thanks for sticking around! The growth is so fast its scary😅
I found the colours on my drawing boring so I'm gonna try that triad technique, I'm really glad I found your channel! It's fun to watch and very helpful to understand how artist studies other artists' works ❤️❤️
Congrats on hitting 100k!🎉
When ttpo whipped out his real halftone i almost fell off my chair because of his sheer hunger and adventurous spirit to pursue and figure out the techniques used by art masters.
Everything is insane. The artist, the editing, the design, the tips, the study...I'm totally mind blown ! I wish youtube had more content that shows how people learn. It's not about teaching or just showing off skills. It's about experiencing the process.
Thanks a lot !
This video is so well done, the editing is amazing and the amount of dedication to study all of this as well, just insane work.
One of my favorite art channels for sure
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! ❤️
The presentation and pacing of information is really impressive. I also greatly appreciate your effort to go beyond in your research and trials.
I wish you the energy, time, motivation, inspiration or whatever you usually need when you work on your personal art illustrations. 👊
Thank you! I'm relieved that you enjoyed the pacing and information in this video 😭
This is truly an awesome master study. The way to dissect it was so good. The end result was awesome.
the saturated line is a stylization of light falloff, which marco bucci has tackled in a video
Your videos not only fun to watch, but very useful for newbie artist like me.
Thank you for another great video!
your videos are like the most helpful, easy to comprehend, and informative art lessons i've ever seen. please keep it up!! i also love how you edit your videos, keeps it very interesting to watch!
God your videos are so good, like the editing alone makes them worth watching. I've actually been trying to figure out her art style for a while so this is legitimately one of the most useful videos ever for me haha
You might be the best art youtuber ever, I learned so much from your videos, please keep this series going! I hope you become more popular soon.
Thank you for featuring sensei by pixiv!
your videos are never boring, whatever the video may be about! its so interesting how you edit and how you express train of thought by colorful and exciting video effects!
you just randomly popped up on my youtube screen and i've never been so thankful that something like this happened. it's so easy to understand and learn from your vids, in my opinion you're the best art channel so far
This feels illegal to watch and learn. Your whole channel is 😭😭😭 Like I have never seen any other channel that would actually have this smooth flow of the video that wouldn't bore me a bit. The way you explain and everything is 😭💕
this is such a nice video! definitely teaches us about techniques as well as showing us that it's okay to study our favorite artists art so that we can become better artists ourselves! also great editing on the video. my suggestion would be sakimichan art. she does semi-realistic anime paintings.
i'm in love with your study videos and all of your videos actually! i've been binge watching them and i'm learning so much. i love all the details and information you put and the editing! i was so excited when i saw you released a new video
I could never find a video that explains digital coloring workflow that I could actually understand, and you did it pretty effortlessly. Thank you
I love Mika Pikazo so much! The first time I saw her illustrate a servant in FGO, I was rushing to get Sei Shonagon into my roster. But other than that, her art certainly does pop out and is really distinct once you know what to look for.
For artists I'd like to see next, Hidari is an amazing artist, his work always looks so good yet so simple. I've tried to replicate his art style many times before but could never get the charm that his work has right, something to do with how he colours his work.
amazing art, amazing work, and you are showing how you learn as you go
You seem very respectful towards the original artist and that already puts you leauges above other up and coming youtubers today
Your analysis and presentation to this whole tutorial was fantastic. Got me engaged till the end.
aaa I love these so much!! The amount of effort and the editing you do is so amazing to me! As a suggestion, maybe you can try doing Kawacy's art style study next time? If you want to! Regardless, look forward to another vid from you! ♡
the study itself and the video editing were both incredible! i feel so motivated to go draw now…
for artist suggestions: Kuroblood or Namie! both of them have made character designs for Arknights, and their illustrations of those characters are gorgeous. I’m really interested in Kuroblood’s shading and clothing design, and Namie is yet another artist who colors in a beautiful way that i have no idea how to replicate 😅 her drawings of Mizuki especially are very ethereal!
sorry for the whole paragraph haha. no matter what artists you look at in the future, i’m always hyped for these study videos!!
might be really late but namie has had many tutorials on tumblr back in the day, they might still be there
It takes passion to reference from your favorite artist when you user half tones traditionally and proceeds to make it so close to the original! If I would to do that, I would probably cut the art through! God bless you man! Your a passionate and observant artist especially in learning from others🙌
Thank you so much for explaining the processes of well known illustrators such as Mika Pikazo. And, you deserve more subscribers.
Is that Picasso?
2:35 that's the terminator! specifically, the line between the light and the shadow. or at least *some* artists call it that, at least marc brunet does. he mentions it in his video "how to paint skin like a pro" at around 7:45. some also call it subsurface scattering, because that is technically the effect that *causes* that color on terminator line. so, subsurface scattering is also fine to use.
edit: the amount of expertise and effort that went into this video is incredible. what a huge asset to the art community!
congrats on 100k dude, you totally deserve it.
thanks for the solid walkthrough of your process in learning, its so well put together, I feel like I'm in a class (but I'm not bored at any point of it)! Awesome stuff ^^
I love you, thank you for always making such amazing content, you’re by far my most favorite TH-cam artist, thank you for literally existing ❤❤❤
2:35 I think I heard that type of line referred to in lighting as the terminator. Not sure if someone else already mentioned it.
Also I love your videos and editing style. I might have to study your work and use it my videos too 😅
Thanks for the fantastic breakdown video as always!
That saturated line at 2:36 looks like a Water Fringe effect in paint tool Sai (I'm not sure if that's what she uses but other software probably has a similar effect). I tried it out with the same colors on the screen and it looks quite similar! Thanks for making these vids :D
I'm surprised to check back into this channel and see you at over 100k! You deserve it my man. Your way of breaking down God-tier artist styles is super entertaining and informative, not to mention that sleek editing! Keep it up
You are legit one of the most unique artist channel on youtuber rn and your stuff is insanely helpful thank you!!! i would love to see you break down Kuroume's art next, one of my favourite artists out there
This channel is honestly such an amazing art channel through all the videos you've made, I've learned so much more than just trying to look at multiple tutorials, really I respect your dedication of effort, and time towards each video...the way you showcase the demonstrations itself along with explaining your setbacks and successes feels relatable but in the end, it helps out artists so much from looking at your videos. I noticed the brush Mika Pikazo and you used in clip studio paint regarding the Pencil R brush... Were any settings changed to get the pencil to be shaped as a gpen or was it pen pressure changes? I tried changing mine but it didn't come close to the taper yours had...
Thank you! 🙏 I did change the curve of the pen pressure graph to give the pencil brush a sharper taper!
This is a super random and pretty challenging request, but as weird as it is, the genshin impact character splash art is a style that is extremely interesting to me. The way the artist makes each version (character card and gacha splash art) look so incredible from both really small but also up close is just- AH!
Appreciate the breakdown and the journey of your discovery of their style. I feel like this is unique content to help understand style.
Also this gets me thinking about how digital techniques can be the big difference between just a good illustration that can be done in digital and physical medium, or a distinct illustration that can only be done in digital.
immediately recognized the Mika Pikazo's art style from the thumbnail so I watched the video but stayed watching because of the indepth attempt of a breakdown which was an awesome one at that. great video.
Salutation to you, this was an interesting video to me, and I would like to commend your efforts at recreating the image. However, I feel a deeper study of the original is necessary to really capture all that went into it. And so here I am, to ramble about a singular image. To start off, I am by no means more talented or skillful at recreating an image as you are, without even mentioning my undeveloped painting and drawing skills. Regardless, I feel I can provide you with a more detailed analysis of the original work than what you were able to derive yourself, at least as far as the video has led me to believe. Keep in mind; this is more a study on this image in particular than Mika Pikazo's style in general.
I want to clarify: your recreation is excellent and reasonably detailed; at a glance, there are no problems whatsoever. Still, upon a closer look, this impression falls short for me. I want to criticize your recreation image and bring to light what it's missing, especially the lack of intent behind many of the processes you took on the way. For lack of a better word, it looks like an imitation, more than a unique work of art. It lacks soul and individuality. I am not saying the original is perfect; quite the opposite; the minor imperfections of an artist breathe life into a work of art. Your recreation ignores some of the the various compromises an artist has to make. These compromises, which eventually make up the bigger picture, give rise to a coherent image, one that's separate from the one on the canvas. In essence, the focus of the image must draw you in, while the rest has to look passive yet pretty. If I look at your recreation image, I feel my eyes are considerably more lost than in the original image.
*Contrast and Hue*
It would help to have more contrast and difference in hue, especially in the focus of the image. The contrast gives you more freedom to move and to express your ideas and the feelings you're trying to convey.
For starters, when adding the skin-colored glow to the hair, you should not use the same color as the base skin color. Why? Well, this is because the hair naturally creates a shadow under itself, so you should use the "shadow 1" or even "shadow 2" color instead, giving it much more character and contrast which will draw you in. What you're left with is a hue range that is much more extreme and dependent on the viewing angle, which gave birth to the simply beautiful yet still subtle gradient on the original. The gradient on the hair in your recreation falls short of such glory; the pale, dull, reddish grey color fades into this neutral, lackluster, greenish gray, even murky color. Simply said, the gradient is quite unappealing. And what makes it worse is the lack of definition or contrast between the different shades of hair, which leads us to the next topic.
*Sharpness and Frequency*
You almost always want to introduce anything foreign in gradual steps. This does not mean a gradient; I am moreso referring to an increase or decrease in the frequency of different things. Human brains naturally tend to find order and harmony appealing over random or sudden change. In the hair example, you have a relatively consistent frequency of regular-ish hair color and then a darker hair color. But if we move some distance to the left, there is a sudden jump not just in color but in the frequency of colors. The brain has to suddenly adjust to an entirely new frequency of colors instead of a uniform, gradually lowering frequency of the brighter colors.
The same applies to not just the hair. If you look at the original, everything within the focus range is keen, and full of contrast with consistent "local chaos." In simpler terms, the level of detail is clearly higher. For comparison, take a look at the open eye. The blend of colors is wild and chaotic, yet it still clearly represents an eye. The chaos and the circular/oval shapes seem to be a metaphor for the universe. Or perhaps the fact she is looking -almost- directly at the viewer implies she is staring deep into your soul. In this context, the striking turquoise in the very middle of the eye is almost a hook to pull you in. To lull you into telling her your deepest secrets. All of this is largely absent from your recreation, even the dots of turquoise, which is baffling to me considering how long you must've spent with the image right in front of you. For reference, the chaos in the eye you drew reminds me more of a nonetheless beautiful and clear view of the moon from earth, while the sun can be seen below through the planet. Celestial objects and a stable orbit could represent inevitability or determinism, and the unreachable moon presents a somber undertone to the whole. The much more sudden transition between the red and green resembles a transition from the ground/ocean to the skyline. Especially without the bleeding effect of the colors, which leaves the surface-level impression much more constrained; even though celestial in nature, its implications are limited in effect as it is no longer as chaotic and mysterious. This might be something you want, but I feel it's not quite right as a recreation.
*Layering*
There is more, which you seem to have misinterpreted. The way Mika utilizes the outwardly random strokes of white paint. Somewhere, she uses it as a faint glow, and in other places, it is on or near the foreground. But wherever it's used, the point is to bring up that part of the image to the eye, perhaps to draw you into looking at it even outside the focus zone. As far as I can tell, in most places, you've either decided to leave them out completely or, in some spots simply misused them. Mika uses these, for example, in the bottom left corner, where there is a trail of white smoke. This smoke is too weak or boring to the eye by itself, but brightening it would bring unwanted attention to the edge of the images' focus. Therefore, she has added a foreground layer of white paint to guide your eyes in case they ever wander there. Another example; on the clothes in the right corner, Mika appropriately made the clothes fade out towards the edge, however, if you leave it there, the perspective the clothes provide becomes less pronounced, and so presumably to counteract this, she added a stroke of white to continue where the clothes would fade out. Analyzing this example even further, one might conclude that she still wanted the white to fade, so she made the stroke of white fade in thickness rather than color as you traced it further toward the edge. There are two more notable usages of this technique on the black ring at the top right and on the spherical ornament, which seems to house a whirlpool. A counterexample of this is on the hairpins. There, the white is more of a glow, as opposed to your image, where it is simply a solid color. I think, in this case, the glow gives a far better illusion of detail than a simple white spot. However, this is more of a preference on my part.
I will now list more *minor details* that differ; however, as my comment is already ginormous in length, I will _try_ not to dwell on these.
In your recreation, *the clothes* on the bottom right look rather dull, unlike the original, where only the very edge is white, which immediately drops into this deep, muddy, blueish-grey color. Both images achieve the passive look. However, the original is a lot more aggressive and offers more perspective, as the white color is used to highlight the curvature of the clothes.
*The weird piece of aqua plastic(?)* on the top right that sticks out all the way out of frame casts a distorted shadow onto itself, giving it a blurry look, on top of being actually blurred. On top of not being blurred, your shadow is completely straight and ends up drawing more attention to that part of the image. Even the highlight is curved on the original, which looks more organic. Your shadows tend to be a tiny bit sharper in general too, which is fine as long as you can be flexible when needed.
*The nails* on the original are far more textured, and the colors seem to fit more with the hands. Here we see when you shouldn't have too much sharpness in the details, as that can draw too much attention away. The nails in the original give the viewer an illusion of greater detail without being so over-detailed as to draw focus away. At the same time, your recreation has sharper white spots and a more uniform base color for the nails; even with bright and sharp-colored nails, the lack of texture can come across as dull or overbearing.
Here's one detail that I like more about yours than on the original; *the three pins(?)* on top of the eye. In yours, they look cartoony and candy-like. The sharp and bold edges work in your favor to create a simplistic appeal that, in reality, doesn't take away from anything else important. I do still miss the speck of red on the green pin, gives it a little more character. The pins in the original are smudged and roughed to the point that it seems like a redundant addition. I can see this creating the illusion of more detail, but in my opinion, it just looks slightly worse without much rhyme or reason.
*The glasses*, although out of the center, are clearly within the intended focus of the image, spotting some crazy contrasting and saturated colors. You really nailed this one, apart from some stuff I've already mentioned, which I will say again. For example, the white squiggly line is clearly not to be applied any effects or filters as it is on the external side of the glass, but you went and treated it like the rest of the glass anyway, which doesn't work. Another thing is that you have too little contrast to really make it pop as it does in the original, especially the lack of white near the bottom is hurting the final result a lot, in my opinion. One more thing, this is visible on both glasses but more easily on the left one; in the original, it looks more like a wild mashup of colors the more angled the glass is, which makes for a convenient excuse to go all out and give the colors a chance to shine and dance. In your version, it's more like looking outside the window on a chill drive on a Sunday evening.
There is a singular *strand of bluish-black hair* on the very top left of the image, which fills that black void and gives an illusion of detail. A bigger stroke of bluish hair is barely outside the focus frame, which also serves to uphold such an illusion to the viewer; this one has the same familiar gradient as the one in front of the face.
I would argue that the *flower ring* on one of the fingers is by itself superior in your recreation; it has a more pronounced contrast which is essential within the zone of focus. However, its border is too close to, if not the same color, as the border of the fingers, which makes it stand out a tiny bit too much. The red ring on the next finger is also more defined, but it's a bit too defined in this case. I find an issue in this because the finger sharing a border with the ring is so weak that the finger gets eclipsed by the ring in your recreation, making it look like it's slightly clipping into the skin.
If you look at both of *the lips* in a vacuum, they don't really represent anything; it's just this alien shape waving at you. However, the moment you distance yourself away from them, you can start to see that these are indeed some pouty lips. The lips you drew are functional and quite pretty for what they are. But on the original, Mika went the extra mile to smudge the bottom part of the lip, which makes them more 3D, presumably to make them extra pouty, to represent the emotion before you've even seen the rest of the context around them.
*Conclusion and Suggestions*
So, all in all, what do these small differences add up to?
The image of the girl changes from "chaotic and mysterious, but lovable" into "cute and cool, giving me attention," with the implication being that she will reject you if you ask her out.
I don't think it's a failure. Frankly, you're great at this, far greater than I have any motivation ever to be, and that's why I felt like writing this all, to share my insight with someone who can potentially make some good use of it. I would be lying if I said I don't care if you even read this, so I want to make the deal a bit sweeter; here are some things you might want to take away:
You draw most things *too consistently* and *at the same level of detail*, essentially oblivious to where the focus of the image ought to be. _Try to look at the image from afar and decide where you want the viewer to look; make those parts of the image more detailed and sharp._
your *colors are off or dull* in certain places. _Try experimenting with a more contrasted look to bring out the full colors of the image._
You *don't improvise enough* to give the art more character, although perhaps that is all in the spirit of making a pure recreation, which I would not dream of criticizing if that's the case here. However, if this wasn't a deliberate choice on your part, _try to connect the choices you make during painting/drawing with an idea to have a more comprehensive picture._
You leave *too many blank or uniform areas* where the details or texture are lacking. _Try to look at different parts individually._ What are they missing? And _keep in mind that you don't need to add anything that sticks out if you're drawing details outside of focus_
You are *too afraid/cautious* to draw sharper and more pronounced features *in general*. _An important feature should take as much space as conceivably possible_, and therefore even though this is a recreation, _you should try experimenting with the edges/linework of the image to bring out certain parts more or less._
Heck, even the flowery ring on the finger, which I myself said was better executed by you in a vacuum, serves to establish a shared border color for the rest of the orange found in the image in the original work, making it no more an issue than abundant rain is to a flower.
And so, I suppose, that's all I wanted to say 😄
*Sources:* (according to me) intuitive logic, my eyes, independent research into character study/color theory over the years... aka _I came up with everything I typed_
P.S. my sister said she likes your image more than the original, so what do I know lmao.
Since no one notice this among the big amount of comments, I’ll just leave my reply here.
The opinions you contribute here is very helpful, the amount of time you took to identify the detail he’s missing is very impressive, I think I’d need someone to feedback my art like this too! 🥰 thanks for the effort you put in to type these, after reading it I know that I should be more careful in focusing minor details when I’m studying someone’s artstyle.
@@aurelie9230 Well, I'm glad someone saw it 😁
this is an awesome extended breakdown crazy how the creator of the video hasnt seen it yet
Thank you for this vid! This just made me realise how amazing her art actually is. This also made me realise that doing everything with as few layers as possible won't do, gotta get my layer game up if I want better results
All of your breakdowns are my fav artists.. thank you so much for making this
I am absolutely blown away by the quality of your videos, I can't stop watching!
As for the saturated line, it is not subsurface scattering, it is the terminator line, and making this line more saturated (and/or of a different hue) is a stylization choice. Some artists use this technique because it makes the artwork more colorful, instead of relying on a soft and often muddy tone to transition from darks to lights. Hope that makes sense.
Bro, this is amazing! Thank you for all the effort in the studies and editing the videos, love the tips